Aviation

AVIATION SUPPORT – SCOPE & PURPOSE

The strategic goals

EUMETNET’s aviation programme exists to support our members in improving the value and efficiency of meteorological services to the European aviation industry through cooperation, innovation and investment for the future. In addition, we also aim to ensure a consistent and coordinated approach towards future transformation of aviation meteorology in Europe by building on our positive relationships with industry stakeholders, governing bodies and the European Commission. By collaborating, we aim to enhance our understanding of the weather impacts on the ATM system and its users, and thereby tailoring future solutions to meet evolving industry needs.

The objectives

A number of developments on both global and European level are on-going and are changing the way MET Service Provision to Air Navigation will be organized in the near-future. On a global level, there are the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP – Doc 9750) and the Global ATM Operational Concept (Doc 9854). These address the current and future air navigation needs and exploit new scientific and technological capabilities. The modernization process will be carried out by implementing the so-called Aviation System Block Upgrade (ASBU) concept.

On a European level, the European Union “Single European Sky” (SES) initiative has the aim to solve some of the many problems of air navigation caused by, amongst others, airspace fragmentation in Europe. SES is led by the European Commission (EC) and focuses on the achievement of some key goals: increasing safety and capacity, more cost effective air navigation services and lowering the environmental impact of aviation. The modernization process will be carried out by implementing the European ATM Master Plan through, for example, the deployment of new procedures and tools developed in the SES ATM Research (SESAR) programme, to which EUMETNET is a committed implementing partner. The European Master Plan can be seen as the European contribution to the ICAO GANP.

EUMETNET has an important role in helping its Members influence these changes and also to assist its Members in adapting to them and to ensure that their impact is managed. EUMETNET will publish a Vision Paper on Future MET Service Provision to Air Navigation in Europe in the near future.

The key priorities

Some of the key tasks of the Aviation Support Programme are:

· Representing the aviation MET community at various European institutions, industry bodies, and stakeholder and technical groups, undertaking lobbying and reporting developments to our members

· Coordinating R&D and deployment activities such as SESAR

· Identifying new opportunities for collaborative research and service provision for all our Members

· Fostering collaborative approach between Members for post-deployment service provision and identifying risks and issues that may require change management and mitigation.

The organization

The Aviation Support Programme works under the advisement of WG AVIMET Chairmanship and the EUMETNET Executive Director and governing bodies. It is managed as part of the EUMETNET Secretariat.